since nobody else posted this yet ...

VANCOUVER , Jan. 29, 2013 /CNW/ - China Gold International Resources Corp. Ltd. (TSX: CGG; HKEx: 2099) (the "Company") is pleased to provide a preliminary report on 2012 operating, production and exploration progress on both of its mines and share its goals for 2013.

2012 Expected Production, Operating and Drilling Highlights

Gold production from the CSH mine increased by 4.4% from 133,541 ounces in 2011 to 139,443 ounces in 2012. This growth is partially due to finer size of crushed ore to the leach pad, increased average flow of leaching solution, improved carbon absorption and higher recoveries.

Cumulative gold recovery at CSH has been steadily increasing over the last few years: from 39% in 2010, to 46% in 2011, and to over 51% by the end of 2012.

Mine expansion feasibility study to double CSH mine's processing capacity to 60,000 tpd has been completed in November of 2012. Gold production will nearly double from its 2012 level of 139,443 ounces to about 260,000 ounces in 2015. Estimated capital expenditure for the expansion is US$213 million. The expanded CSH mine is expected to generate US$1.25 billion of undiscounted cash flow over 11 years of mine life. The after-tax NPV of the project is US$642 million at a 9% discount rate.

Copper production from the Jiama mine increased by 20% from 21,563,193 pounds in 2011 to 25,821,000 pounds in 2012. This is the second full year of increasing production for the Jiama mine.

Successful 2012 drill program at the Jiama mine upgraded a significant amount of its inferred resource to the measured and indicated ("M&I") resources. As a result, the total M&I resources increased to 1,053.1 million tonnes, containing 4.64 million tonnes of copper.

Preliminary feasibility study for the Jiama Mine has been completed. Jiama's processing capacity will grow nearly 7 times from 6,000 tpd in 2012 to 40,000 tpd in 2016. By 2016, copper production expected to reach 176,400,000 pounds up from its 2012 level of 25,821,000. Expected capital expenditure for this expansion is US$705 million. The expanded Jiama mine is expected to generate more than US$3.6 billion of undiscounted cash flow over its 31 year mine life. The after-tax NPV of the project is US$1.24 billion at a 9% discount rate.

Sufficient permanent power supply to satisfy full expansion capacity of the Jiama Mine has been secured by connecting the mine to the recently completed DC Qinghai-Tibet Power Grid Interconnection Project ("QTPGI').

In 2013, Jiama is expected to mine and process 1.8 million tonnes of ore, producing about 26,500,000 pounds of copper, 9,000 ounces of gold, and 800,000 ounces of silver. The stripping ratio is expected to be 3.8.

CSH - 2013 outlook

CSH is building a new 30,000 tpd stand-alone crushing, heap leaching and ADR plant system in addition to the existing 30,000 tpd facility. The new plant will be similar to the existing one but instead of using the C160 jaw crushers, a new gyratory primary crusher will be used.

This expansion construction is expected to be completed in Q4 of 2013. First ore from this new facility is expected to be placed on the leach pad in Q4 of 2013 as well.

The 2013 gold production at CSH is expected to be about 145,000 ounces.